Freedom School focuses on reading
By Denise Dick
YOUNGSTOWN
It’s all about reading.
Whatever you do, don’t call the Freedom School at Tabernacle Baptist Church a summer camp or a day care.
“It’s not summer camp,” said Lois Thornton, project director. “It’s a school. They’re here to learn.”
That was echoed by the church’s pastor, the Rev. Christopher McKee Jr., executive director.
Students, called scholars, have fun, but learning is the goal. Everything centers on reading. The school targets curbing the summer learning slide.
At Thursday’s finale, the 56 scholars entertained their families and area elected officials with some of the songs and cheers they learned.
They sang “Read a Book” to the tune of Experience Unlimited’s 1988 tribute to an ample female posterior, “Da Butt.”
“Reading a book,” they sang. “That big old, big old book.”
Freedom School is a program of the Children’s Defense Fund and follows a curriculum. Children are tested at the beginning of the six-week program and again at the end to gauge their learning.
Thornton said scores from this year aren’t available yet, but last year, more than 95 percent of Freedom School students either maintained or exceeded the achievement level of when the program started.
“It’s to instill in them a love of literature,” Thornton said.
The local Freedom School relies on grants and sponsors for funding. Student-leader interns, college students and recent graduates must travel to Knoxville, Tenn., for Freedom School training,
Community leaders read aloud to the students, and each day includes reading time.
This marks the third year the church has offered the school. Enrollment is larger this year than in the previous two years.
“More students signed up, and we didn’t want to turn anyone down,” Thornton said.
Children and their parents learned of the program through their schools or word of mouth.
Ja’Najah McBride, 11, a sixth-grader at St. Joseph the Provider School, and Arkaylah Clark, 10, a fifth-grader at Discovery at Kirkmere, met at Freedom School the first year. They have returned each year since. This is William Burney’s second year.
William, 11, is a sixth-grader at Liberty’s W.S. Guy Middle School.
“The best part of Freedom School is you get to see all of your best friends,” said Ja’Najah, hugging Arkaylah.
Each Friday, the scholars go on a field trip. Today’s will be a surprise, but for one recent trip, they traveled to Niagara Falls.
Arkaylah picked that as her favorite part of Freedom School.
“We all got to really know each other,” she said.
William agreed.
All three listed DEAR among their favorite things. DEAR stands for drop everything and read, the time when scholars read.
William, Ja’Najah and Arkaylah all enjoy reading mystery and fantasy books, and William enjoys biographies, too.
DEAR usually lasts about 15 minutes, but Ja’Najah loses track of time.
“It always seems like it’s longer because reading is such an amazing thing to do,” she said.